AL AL - Nadia Kersh, 23, Homewood, 3 Nov 2008

[scarlett_hues]

Homewood police keep searching for missing woman Nadia Kersh while building criminal case
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 KIM BRYANNews staff writer
Homewood police have switched from a missing person to a criminal case in the disappearance of Nadia Kersh, 23, last seen Nov. 3, officials said Monday.

"We will have a suspect soon, in my opinion," said Homewood Det. Sgt. Doug Finch. Police believe they have built a strong case against an Irondale man and acquaintance of Kersh questioned early on, Finch said. The man was held, but released for lack of evidence to make a charge, Finch said.

"We have good, strong information from witnesses," Finch said. "We have strong forensic evidence. It gets stronger as the days go by."

Asked why, with such strong evidence, the police have not charged the suspect, Finch said. "It's hard to charge homicide without a body."

Finch said he has not given up hope of finding Kersh alive. "You never want to give up hope. But it's been two weeks, and it doesn't look good."

Finch said the results of DNA analysis, which can take weeks, could be a key in the case. That analysis is being done at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va.

Brandon Falls of the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office is being apprised of the investigation, Finch said.

Starting Wednesday, Homewood police will allow the public to help in the search for Kersh, Finch said. Volunteers, particularly those who have equipment or scent dogs, may call 205-332-6262.

Kersh left her job at Tria Market in Homewood at about 1 p.m. on Nov. 3 to pick up her son, Christopher. She never got to the day care.

Kersh's abandoned car was found in west Birmingham the next day, and her purse was found on railroad tracks in a nearby wooded area.

Finch said police are working on a reverse timeline with CSX and other railroad lines, asking officials to be on the lookout for evidence on tracks and in train cars.

"We hope we find her, or she turns up," Finch said. "But we have moved into a recovery mode point now."

The Irondale man police believe to be a suspect has hired an attorney and has not talked to police since his release, Finch said. He declined to be specific about the man or his relationship to Kersh.

"At this point, we have no specific area to search," Finch said. With help from the FBI evidence recovery team, Finch said the search has spread from West End to Irondale to Lake Purdy. Main access roads have been combed. But there's a lot of ground covered in those areas, Finch said.

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/122699975954220.xml&coll=2

 

[Kimster]

Sounds like LE believes they will find a body...My prayers go to her family and loved ones!

 

[rozey]

NG had a segment on Nadia this evening. Nadia's mother was on.

Nancy Grace 11/26/08, Transcript
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/25/ng.01.html

 

[wv171]

People can help search for Nadia Kersh

HOMEWOOD, Ala-- Police are sweetening the pot, hoping nearly $36,000 entices someone to come forward with information that helps them locate Nadia Kersh and possibly leads to a suspect’s arrest.
The FBI kicked in $20,000 on top of the original $15,000 reward.
Two other people added $900 more

http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/people_can_help_search_for_nadia_kersh/47356/

 

[Kimster]

Has there been many clues about this case? For some reason, this dear woman continues to be on my mind...

 

[blackopsglock]

Sad,,it appears that this young girl has had some relationships with men that were not healthy according to her mother.

I am betting this is a case of a mix race relationship.Just a hunch.Couple of things
sort of stand out in my mind that makes me think this.

Shame,She was such a pretty girl.

 

[Bobbisangel]

I hope it doesn't take six months or more to get the DNA back. I hope the FBI is faster then most labs. It sounds like they are building a good case against this person that they questioned. His rushing right out and getting a attorney makes me wonder if he isn't guilty and knows they are going to be arresting him when the DNA comes back. I wonder if this guy had been a boyfriend or just someone that she knew?

 

[AmyinTheHam]

I am local to the story and honestly it is not getting much attention. I think at this point they fear she is dead. So sad. If I hear anything local I will post it.

 

[MeoW333]

Wow getting NASA satellites involved? The FBI giving $20,000 more money as a reward. Who is this missing woman? We have missing people everyday and not once do we hear about LE asking NASA for help or the feds throwing in $20,000? In any case i hope they find her.

 

[AmyinTheHam]

Wow getting NASA satellites involved? The FBI giving $20,000 more money as a reward. Who is this missing woman? We have missing people everyday and not once do we hear about LE asking NASA for help or the feds throwing in $20,000? In any case i hope they find her.

And it is not really being covered much here locally. She isn't "from" here in the sense that we usually use that term. But she did disappear from a nice part of our city and the residents will want this solved or else their city might look bad. She was last seen in Homewood which is right next to Mtn Brook, home of Natalie.

 

[blackopsglock]

Any updates in this case?It seems to have dropped of the radar

 

[AmyinTheHam]

Locally it is not even getting coverage.

 

[blackopsglock]

Sad,,it appears that this young girl has had some relationships with men that were not healthy according to her mother.

I am betting this is a case of a mix race relationship.Just a hunch.Couple of things
sort of stand out in my mind that makes me think this.

Shame,She was such a pretty girl.

Well It looks like I was right on about this.

They finally showed some pics of her baby and it is in fact a mixed race baby.Not that it means anything.

 

[lne1970]

Exactly. It doesn't mean anything. Why this was even brought up for this particular case is absurd since it doesn't appear to be relevant.

Well It looks like I was right on about this.

They finally showed some pics of her baby and it is in fact a mixed race baby.Not that it means anything.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Since the grandparents aren't privy to the father's identity, I think it could prove to be very important her son is bi-racial. It is a fact that many of these cases involve the father of a young child, especially when they are "estranged".

 

[blackopsglock]

Exactly. It doesn't mean anything. Why this was even brought up for this particular case is absurd since it doesn't appear to be relevant.

Its relevant,,,

The mother said when this first happened that she picked unhealthy relationships.That coupled with the fact they were not showing the hand/arm area or the face area of the child led me to believe that this was a mixed relationship situation.Homewood the area where she is from is primary a white collar white inhabitated area of town and this case may not have gotten the attention and support it had if the towns people had known early on this was a case of mixed relation.Those poeple would not dare say it out loud to the general public but had they shown the photo of the mixed baby people would have been muttering under their breath "ohhh thats just another case where the white girl got herself in trouble with a black boy.This case might not even had made the papers much less at a national level..Sad to say but true.

There are some good folks out there that live well in a mixed relationship but far too many of them end very turbulent.I did a study of this back in College and the data showed something like 7 out of every 10 mixed relationships ends with some sort of domestic violence.So I do feel like the data is relevant and I think when the truth comes out in this case the suspect is going to be african american.Just my hunch.

 

[AmyinTheHam]

Ok word here in town is that Equisearch is headed to town today. I am going to see if I can find out how to help in the search. I may not be able to actually do a foot search but I could help by bringing water or something else they may need.

 

[DewSeeker]

I hope they find her. My prayers are with the searchers and the families involved.

 

[Kimster]

Did TES make it out there yet?

 

[barb0301]

TES is in Birmingham, working with law enforcement. They had a large scale search effort on Saturday, with law enforcement teams from all over the state and SAR teams from Florida and Georgia, along with TES. TES is continuing to work with the local law enforcement in reconnaisance and mapping, along with other mission essential tasks. They will be there for a few more days.